Happy New Year!!!

Well we are less than 2 hours from the new year. I can't imagine where 2012 has gone. I am excited about the fresh start that a new year brings. It feels so good to put a fresh calendar up on the fridge (there are two pretty cute faces on that calendar).  Am I the only one that gets a little excited when sitting down with a blank calendar and writing in the important dates for the year?

2012 was a good year, I really can't complain. I dove into a new teaching position and I can honestly say I haven't looked back. I LOVE IT! It has been another exciting year watching Logan and Madison grow and mature into their own personalities. 2012 was also the year I caught my first mouse. I must say I am still a little traumatized by that but it was another life lesson I had to learn. I just hope I don't have to practice those skills(or lack of) for a long time. Hey I had made it 32 years without having to do that, it was a good run.

As I always I have enjoyed meeting new blog friends and continuing to build lasting friendships with old blog friends.

I hope 2013 will bring happiness to all my blog friends. It is a blessed community of wonderful support.

Logan and I have already done our New Year's partying. We spend the afternoon at a mock New Year's Eve party at the local skating rink. I am now finishing out New Year's eve on my nice comfy couch under a warm blanket. I am blessed.

Christmas at Young's

We are huge fans of Young's! We can find something to do there every season. They have a great light display, so Logan and I decided to venture up there one Saturday evening so we could see the lights and he could use his birthday coupon.  We arrived just before dark and of course headed out to the barn to see the animals. I really think Logan would have brought a goat home if I would have let him! After the barn we decided to head to the big barn restaurant for dinner. They have the best food and this time it did not disappoint. We dined on cinnamon sweet potatoe bread, applesause,  coleslaw before the dinner even started. Logan enjoyed his grilled cheese and mashed potatoes ( I know strange combo) and I had there ranch chicken sandwich with homemade potatoe chips. With Logan's coupon, we ended up with all of that for $7!! Along with Logan's kids meal, he gets a bowl or ice cream cone, so we took that coupon and headed over to the ice cream shop for ice cream. Logan enjoyed bubblegum ice cream and I have peppermint stick( a perfect holiday treat). It was so funny because we were going to sit down with our ice cream and we turned around and there was Santa sitting and visiting with children. Of course Logan had to go see him and add a few more things to his list!.  We ended the evening driving around looking at Christmas lights.

Posing by one of the light structures

His new friend

Watching them milk the cows

Looks like they are having a serious conversation

It looks icy but it was just rainy

Logan loves looking at all the lighted tractors

Hanging out with the snowmen

This is where you wait for your table in the restaurant(it is the front of a tractor)

Some of the beautiful lights

Surprise-It's Santa

Yes, it was warm enough that we enjoyed our ice cream outside.

Breakfast With Santa

It is hard to believe that Christmas has come and gone. We had a great day, which I will share about later but I wanted to go back and document all the pre-Christmas activities.

It has become a tradition to have breakfast with Santa a few Saturdays before Christmas. The kids love to have their pictures with Santa then enjoy some breakfast. After the meal, they can go around and make cookies with Mrs. Claus, get their faces painted, make a craft, design an apron and color a placemat. The kids love it and I love sharing this tradition with them. The lady that coordinates this event is a friend of the family and years ago her daughter and I used to have breakfast with Santa, so it is a special day.

Merry Christmas

I would like to wish you and your family warm holiday wishes. I wanted to post my Christmas card but my scanner has decided not to work.  I hope this season finds you happy and healthy. It is so wonderful to connect each day with friends from all around the country. The blog world is truely a special place. As we spend time together as a family we will open presents and watch two little ones play with all of their new toys but we will also reflect on the true reason of the season... the birth of Jesus. I know that he is my hope during all the tough times. So enjoy every moment and delight in time spent with those you love.

Merry Christmas!!

Hair Raising

Well I have officially survived school party day and now I am on Christmas break.  It has been a challenge keeping 7 and 8 year olds focused on testing this week, while trying to get everything ready for Christmas. I am excited that we are now off until January 7.  The next few days are going to be busy but I am hoping for a little rest time after the holiday. Hopefully I will be refreshed and ready to pick up where we left off.

Anyway back to the hair raising event. A few weeks ago, Madison got her first official big hair cut. She has had trims and her bangs done, but not a major cut. My aunt Louise did the honors in my grandmas basement (that is where a lot of our haircuts take place, she is a professional beautician). If you ask her who her hair looks like, she will inform you that it is like Aunt Court's. I am proud to share the hair style.

You will see what the after looks like in my next post.

Holiday Parade

I am getting behind again, so I am going to try to catch up a bit. I can't believe this time next week, Christmas will be over. I am thankful that our school gets two weeks after Christmas, but I must admit right now I am a little stressed. Too much to do and not enough time.  Plus after the events that took place on Friday, I couldn't even think about putting a post together. Let me just say, it has hit teachers hard. Our career has never been about putting our lives on the line, but now we feel as if that is the reality. Our school is hard at work reworking the plans to make things safer.  It has just been a hard week.

Okay, now back to some fun. The first weekend in December my town holds a holiday parade. I was really excited that it was a night parade. I feel like all holiday parades should be a night, they are just so neat with all the Christmas lights.  After the parade, Logan decided he wanted to make pizzas that night so we ran to the grocery and then home. We made pizzas and then curled up on the couch in our pjs and watched a Christmas movie. I love this time of year when you can sit by the light of the tree every night.

We did some shopping in some of our local shops, and this was in one of the boutiques. It was perfect, I got to shop and he got to play with the cats.

Waiting for the parade

Watching the parade from the hood of my car.

This was one of Logan's favorite floats

The lights make the floats look so pretty

Getting the pizza ready for the oven.

 

Thanksgiving

 We had a good Thanksgiving with all the family on my mom's side. Lots of good food and company. The kids had fun playing with cousins and the adults had fun eating and socializing. After the ads come out and everyone starts pulling together their plans. I do not do black friday shopping so my plan was going home to rest and relax. I ended up spending my black Friday at school working. I had a big project to get done and I work best there when I am not distracted by others ( yes, all these years later, I still go to school to socialize). Saturday my grandma came up to my house and we did shop local Saturday and found some great deals.  Sunday I spent the day getting ready to go back to school. Holiday breaks go way too fast!

Church Thanksgiving

The kids at church put together a Thanksgiving program  the Sunday before Thanksgivng. Logan was excited to be a part of the program and spent a lot of time trying to get his costume right. I had fun taking pictures of his many costumes. When it came time for the performance it was really cute. Logan was in charge of sitting in the boat ( The Mayflower). He also had to switch hats during the performance. Well when he went to put his coonskin on, the tail ended up in his face which made for a little comic relief.   It is always fun to watch the kids perform in these little plays.

Logan with his friend Brittany

Logan and Christopher

Sailing on the Mayflower

The res of the cast